The ClassroomFourth grade students learn to express in writing what they have learned across the curriculum. Therefore, writing is an integral part of each academic area. A team of teachers instructs the core courses of math, science, language arts, and social studies. Organization and study skills are emphasized and taught in all subject areas. Highlights of the fourth grade include an overnight trip to Williamsburg, a PowerPoint project that is presented to parents, and more freedom in their class choices.
Physical Education remains a part of daily life for the Fourth Grade, as does Spanish, where they explore their creativity and speaking skills with skits they present to family members entirely in Spanish. |
The MoreMaking more of a book than what is presented on the page takes many forms in these later years in Lower School. Our 100 Books program encourages out-of-school reading of books aimed at expanding a child's (and family's) exposure to a wide variety of literary types and topics. If completed by the end of the fifth grade, a student receives a special certificate and a gift from our librarian.
At the end of the year, after weeks of research sessions in the Library with our librarian, and a crash-course in the use of PowerPoint, each fourth-grade student will deliver a presentation in Fishburn Auditorium. The project provides students the opportunity to research, analyze, write, and present on a singular topic and continues the North Cross belief in the benefits of public speaking.
Students choose to participate in either Beginning Band, an introduction to woodwind and brass instruments, or in the Lower School Chorus, which highlights music theory and sight-singing skills. In weekly Visual Arts classes, students study different techniques and artists' styles, working in different media throughout the year. |
Sample Day7:50 Arrive
7:55 Spanish 8:35 Language Arts/Social Studies or Math/Science 10:30 P.E. 11:10 Lunch 11:45 Recess 12:05 Math/Science or Language Arts/Social Studies 2:00 Art/Library/Flex Time 2:50 Dismissal x
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The ClassroomIt may sound odd, but the best word with which to describe a fifth grader at North Cross is 'storyteller.' This is so because everything they learn, from coding to ancient civilizations, is brought to life through stories. The study of early humans begins the first few months of a fifth-grader's history curriculum. But their work starts well before the school year. The required summer reading selection for rising fifth graders is Boy in the Painted Cave by Justin F. Denzel. Though not a history textbook, it brings to life the time in which fifth-graders will spend their first weeks of school—the Cro-Magnum era.
There are many lessons that are illustrated through classroom activities. Whether it be solving a word problem that will help choose the correct ingredients for a fraction 'pizza,' or performing a controlled science experiment and charting the results for a poster presentation, our teachers have found numerous ways to teach to mastery, not to the test, by bringing subject matter to life. It's one thing to have a student memorize facts about an Ancient Egyptian God, but it's entirely another to have him research and present his biography (as the God himself) to their class. Go ahead, ask a fifth-grader what the first written word looked like, they can draw it for you. They've done it before—in clay. |
The MoreMath teacher Kate Clark remarked recently that her students asked, "Mrs. Clark, when are we going to start doing Algebra?" She replied, "You already are." Students are entering their final year of Singapore Math, a program which emphasizes not just the 'how' of math, but the 'why,' understanding the solution by visualizing numbers as 'moveable parts.' Sound like Algebra? (2x + 2) + x = 632 used to be something a student couldn't comprehend until 6th or 7th grade. Using word problems and bar models that represent the different quantities, students can visualize the different parts of the problem so that figuring out how to solve it becomes, well, elementary.
How much information can you fit on an index card? What if the only information you could put on it is that which might actually help you in an open-note test? Now, decide what needs to go on that one card, organize the information so that it's easy to find, and transcribe it in a way that makes sense to you. This is just one example of the study skills taught which help our students organize information so that they'll have the building blocks for future research papers and presentations.
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Sample Day7:50 Arrive
7:55 Spanish or Science/Math or Language Arts/Social Studies 8:35 Spanish or Science/Math or Language Arts/Social Studies 10:30 P.E. 11:10 Lunch 11:45 Recess 12:05 Math/Science or Language Arts/Social Studies 2:00 Computer Science or Art or Library or Band/Chorus 2:50 Dismissal x
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4254 Colonial Avenue
Roanoke, Virginia 24018 540-989-6641 • (540) 989-7299 (FAX) HOURS: M-F; 8AM-4PM |
North Cross School is an independent, coeducational, college-preparatory day school founded in 1944 and governed by a volunteer Board of Trustees.
All contact information listed on this website is for official North Cross School business only. North Cross School does not accept unsolicited advertisements sent to school email addresses, phone numbers, or fax numbers listed on this site. North Cross School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected status in the administration of its educational, admission, financial aid or employment policies, or any other programs administered by the School. For more information, read our Inclusivity Statement. Accreditation North Cross is accredited by the Virginia Association of Independent Schools. North Cross School's Junior Kindergarten is accredited by the Virginia Association of Independent Schools who is recognized by the Board of Education pursuant to §22.1-19 of the Code of Virginia authorizes the Virginia Council for Private Education to accredit private nursery, preschool, elementary and secondary schools in Virginia. Memberships North Cross is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools, National Association for College Admission Counseling, and Potomac and Chesapeake Association for College Admission Counseling, The Cum Laude Society and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Privacy Policy |